I Keep My Distance, You Keep Yours
by Umi Freer
Summary: AU Kaoru's a rich little girl who witnesses her parents' brutal death. This shakes her up so much that she vows to never love & be close to others. Years later, a new student arrives. Kenshin Himura. Is he the one that'll win her love? Full Summ Inside


Disclaimer: I do not own RK, but I do own the song in this fic, even though it isn't that good.  
  
A/N: I've been watching RK for a while, and I couldn't help but want to write a fic about Kenshin and Kaoru. They are SO cute together. Also, in most of the AU RK fics I have read, they put Kenshin as the "cold" person. What if instead it were Kaoru? Possible coupling of other characters in future. * * shows what people are thinking.  
  
Full Summary: Kaoru Kamiya, a very rich person, experienced the death of her parents right in front of her very eyes when she was a kid. Since that one event greatly traumatized her, she declared to herself that she will never love and be too close to anyone. A few people, counting her staff, know why she is the way she is. At school, She is one of the most popular people in her class. Even though she is not rude to people, she heavily implies that they were not to come near her or talk to her after a first encounter. What if one day, a new guy shows up at her school. Will he be the one to melt the ice barrier around her heart?  
  
Chapter 1  
  
Rain was thumping on the roof, drop by drop, in the process of making an immense noise which could be heard in every single room.  
  
A thundering roar was heard throughout the mansion. At that moment, a streak of lightning flashed through a window, brightening up a dark room for a second. Looking closer, it appeared to have a little figure huddled in a corner.  
  
The figure was a little child, a girl nonetheless. She appeared around the age of a four year old. Sitting there hugging her knees, tears were sprawling from her eyes. They were running down her cheek, but no movement was made to wipe them away.  
  
She still could not believe what she had happened half an hour ago. All she wanted to do was scream, but to no avail, not a single noise could come out of her mouth.  
  
The young girl desired to be held, comforted, and be told things such as everything will be all right, yet it could not be done. Starting this day, she was an orphan. Her parents were gone, and she had witnessed their own demise.  
  
"Sniff." *Mommy and Daddy are gone. I by myself now.* This phrase repeated itself in her head. She remembered sitting down in a chair by the phone waiting for a call from her parents because they had promised her that they would.  
  
Also, once they finished whatever business they were doing, they would come home as soon as possible to see their little baby.  
  
`Flashback  
  
"Mommy, 'member you're apposed to call as qwuickwy as you can."  
  
"Of course, honey." She kneeled down and hugged her precious daughter, who was old enough to enunciate her words, but decides against it. "Now you be a good girl and listen to what the maids have to say. If you are, then we might bring you a present."  
  
The child's eye shone when she heard this comment. She simply nodded and had a huge smile on her face. Her father ruffled the top of Kaoru's head before grabbing his briefcase.  
  
"Bye, princess."  
  
Giggling, she replied, "Daddy, I'm notta weal princess."  
  
"No, but you are my princess." He bent down. "Now, aren't you gonna give your old man a kiss good-bye."  
  
She gave him a peck on the cheek. Afterwards, he stood up with a grin and walked towards the door. The mom was just watching all of this with a warm gleam in her eye. She always hated leaving, but work was needed to be done to pay for all of their expenses.  
  
While they were entering the family limousine, Kaoru was waving her hands wildly and yelling good-byes at the top of her voice. Her face was so cheery that it felt as if the whole mansion was shining brightly. As odd as it is, whenever Kaoru is happy, no one else could be brought down by anything.  
  
Since morning time when her parents had left, she had been sitting on a chair rocking her legs back and forth for hours. She had not eaten anything since their departure because she was so hung up on being the first person to talk with them once they called.  
  
The household was getting a bit worried. Usually, their master and mistress would have called by now. There must be something wrong, but then again, this had happened time before whenever something important came up. Thus, the help decided to let it be at that.  
  
Just then, a ringing was heard, but it was not coming from the phone they were expecting it to.  
  
~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~  
  
Everybody began to get too high-strung to do any of their jobs, but of course, they did not act that way around the little girl. The child remained where she was the whole time, oblivious to the scenes around her. She had been singing a tune her mother had been teaching her recently, but she was still in the process of learning the chorus to the song.  
  
I'm awways t'ere for you What udders say aren't tru' Tru tick an tin I'm t'ere You're awways in my care An I never go away  
  
You're awways t'ere fo' me What udders say can't be Showin' all your feelin' Oh, what plendid' joy it bring And I awways 'tay t'e same  
  
[I'm always there for you What others say aren't true Through thick and thin I'm there You're always in my care And I'll never go away  
  
You're always there for me What others say can't be Showing all your feelings Oh, what splendid joy it brings And I'll always stay the same]  
  
One of the maids, Marie, was vacuuming at the moment. She was a woman around her late twenties, but her appearance made her look much younger.  
  
She stopped and stared, with a sorrowful face, at the girl, who was looking sideways at the phone this very moment. *Poor child. I feel so sorry for her. She has no idea what is going on.*  
  
Marie hit the off switch to the vacuum cleaner and walked over to the four- year old until she was standing right next to her. She then squatted down and in the process, placed her hands on the chair's handle.  
  
Then came out a soft, gentle voice saying, "Kaoru?" The youngster looked up and answered, "Yes?" For some reason, it startled the maid when she saw the face of the child. It was full of such innocence, happiness, and most of all, hope.  
  
A bit stuttering at first, she finally asked a question, though it was not the one she had in mind. "Wha.. What was that song you were just singing?"  
  
"Oh, t'at. T'at was sumethin Mommy been teaching me. She tol' me Daddy wrote a small wittle poem to her tis one time, an t'en she wrote one back to 'im. T'en t'ey put t'em t'ether an put mo' wuds an moosic an an tat's it I t'ink."  
  
("Oh, that. That was something Mommy been teaching me. She told me Daddy wrote a small little poem to her this one time, and then she wrote once back to him. Then, they put them together and put more words and music and and that's it, I think.") Kaoru got into one of those thinking poses with a hard concentrating face.  
  
After a couple of minutes passed, nothing could still come to her mind. *I know I'm not 'memberin' sumthin'.* She began to get a little angry with herself. She let out a huge dramatic sigh.  
  
Marie could not help but let out a chuckle while getting up from her previous position. *She looks so adorable like that.* "How about I help you?"  
  
The little tyke's pout mood instantly lifted. She nodded her head vigorously.  
  
The woman picked Kaoru up, sat down in the chair, and put her on her lap. "Okay, then. Umm... was it a gift for a special occasion?"  
  
"W'at's 'casion mean?" The quizzical look on the girl's face was priceless.  
  
"Occasion is something somebody wants to remember because it was very important to them." Kaoru pondered about that for a second.  
  
"Unh-uh. T'at's not it."  
  
"Okay. Well, was there a reason at all? Could he just wanted to write it because he loved her?"  
  
"Unh-uh."  
  
"Hmm. this is hard. Did something bad happen?"  
  
"I t'ink so. Uhh, Mommy said something' 'bout her daddy not likin' Daddy."  
  
"So the poem he wrote was to say that your Mommy's daddy was wrong?"  
  
"Uh-huh. Yay!! We got it." Kaoru clapped her hands together in joy.  
  
"Yes, we did. How about you write the song down on a piece of paper? Just in case it slips your mind. That way, you can look at it if it ever happens."  
  
" 'Kay." She got out of the maid's lap and went on a search for a writing utensil and paper.  
  
The maid quietly chuckled at the departing figure. At least she had managed to occupy the girls' mind with something else to do. If she found out about her parents, she would be overwhelmed. It would be too much to comprehend in that little mind of hers.  
  
Yes, the phone had rang, but it was not the main line with which the phone Kaoru was sitting next to. It was the emergency phone used only in a real crisis. It had never been used before, so most people had forgotten about it.  
  
Think of how much of a surprise it was to the staff.  
  
Apparently, Kaoru had not heard the phone ring, and it was a good thing too. The call was about her parents, and they were in a hostage situation at the bank. It was a gang of men who were armed with guns. If the police did not meet their demands of 1 million dollars, killing would be inevitable.  
  
Since the whole staff was worried about them, they decided to let at least two people go and see how everything was going. The two chosen was the maid herself and the cook, since they had been working for the Kamiya family the longest.  
  
They were going to be leaving very shortly. Before their departure, procedures were made to make sure everything was in place.  
  
The youngster would be told the two of them were going grocery shopping. Then, she would be placed in bed to take a little nap. Maybe a little snack before she does.  
  
Their transportation was the cook's vehicle. It was a bit messy, but it would do just fine.  
  
At that moment, Kaoru came in with her writing on a sheet of paper. It was not one-hundred percent clear, but it could still be read. For her age, it was actually written pretty well.  
  
She handed it to the maid who put it in her pocket. She would have to put it in a safer place later. For now, their bosses were in danger.  
  
~ * ~ * ~ * ~  
  
Kaoru was stirring in her bed. How could they expect her to go to sleep just like that. She remembered hearing a quote her daddy once told her. 'If you can't sleep, then get up and do something instead of lying there.'  
  
[Kaoru misquoted it. She never really listened to the whole thing. The quote was, 'If you can't sleep, then get up and do something instead of lying there worrying. It's the worry that gets to you, not the lack of sleep. It was by Dale Carnegie.]  
  
Besides, she wanted to go shopping, too. If they were not going to take her, then she would just have to sneak in. She would have to hurry though. It sound as if they were going to leave any minute.  
  
She got out of bed and quietly tiptoed over the a certain wall panel, not wanting to make any racket. She had played Cowboy and Indians with everybody in the house enough to know which boards creak.  
  
She was plenty good at being cautious and most excellent when it came to being noiseless.  
  
As she reached her destination, she pulled a handle invisible to the naked eye. She had found it by accident this one time when she was being chased to take a bath. Moving left and right against the wall made her hand brush past it. It never really occurred to her to check it out until later.  
  
It was a door opening to a secret passage which contained of stairways leading to outside, the kitchen, and a secret room. No one knew of this, not even her parents. This was her secret ever since, and she intended on keeping it that way.  
  
Right now, she needed to hurry before the cook and the maid left. Either that or she stays behind bored out of her mind. She was a little hesitant though. *T'ey're not goin somewehere 'portant, so I hope I won't get in twubble.* She venture into the corridor with a small flashlight leading the way.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  
  
That's it for now. It took me a long time just to get this chapter. I kept on changing things around. Hope you enjoyed it. Criticism, reviews, and ideas are much appreciated. Flames are too, but only if you have a really good reason. There is no point of flaming someone without a purpose. For example, saying you didn't like it when you didn't have to read it in the first place. 


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